Cradle-to-Cradle for Sustainable Development: From Ecodesign to Circular Economy

Abstract

Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C) is a design concept developed in the 1990s by Michael Braungart, William McDonough, and the EPEA International Environmental Research Hamburg. It stands for innovation, quality, and good design and describes the safe and potentially infinite circulation of materials and nutrients in cycles. C2C is a design concept that has nature as its model (McDonough and Braungart (2009) Cradle to cradle: remaking the way we make things. Vintage, London). All products are designed according to the principle of a potentially infinite circular economy. C2C differs from conventional recycling and the concept of eco-efficiency. The C2C design concept is eco-effective and goes beyond the conventional tools and approaches that primarily depict people’s negative impact on the environment. It takes economic, ecological, and social aspects into account, following the principles of the Triple Bottom Line according to Elkington ((1997) Cannibals with forks – triple bottom line of 21st century business. New Society Publishers, Stoney Creek). Raw material cycles play a central role within the C2C concept and are distinguished between the biological and the technical cycle. Cradle–to-Cradle is next to the product certification also a school of thought. As such, C2C addresses sustainability, particularly the Sustainability Development Goals (SDG): 3 (Good health and well-being), 8 (Decent work and economic growth), 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 12 (Responsible consumption and production), and 13 (Climate Action).